The incoming government in Nigeria has prioritized the fight against corruption and people have a lot of expectations. It is therefore necessary to correct some common misconceptions about corruption so people understand the enormity of the problem and become better positioned to both support and challenge the government to deliver on this major promise.
1. Nigerians are corrupt.
Because corruption is rampant and corrupt practices almost commonplace in most government offices, it is easy to say that Nigerians are corrupt. When that is repeated often enough; Nigerians start to think of themselves as evil people who have to accept their situation because that is the way they are. Well, that is not quite correct. The public sector organizations comprising of the civil service, police, public utilities and other agencies are the engine of any nation and they largely dictate the pattern for the rest of the citizenry. So, if corruption exists or is allowed in the public sector, the rest of the nation logically follows. Even the corruption that goes on in the private sector can be said to be logical outcomes of inefficient law enforcement and a highly lethargic judiciary.
The point is that corruption is endemic in Nigeria mainly because the lifeblood of the nation – its public services – is corrupt. The good news is it can also be largely addressed by making the public services more efficient.
2. Corruption is (the same as) stealing.
This was a sore point during the election campaigns as both sides held opposing views on how best to fight corruption. President Jonathan's government felt corruption is different from and more difficult to handle than stealing and therefore focused more on preventing it. The opposition disagreed and insisted the government was not doing its best to fight corruption. A close look at what corruption is will establish the merits of both arguments and the opportunity within. Transparency International defines corruption as “abuse of entrusted power for private gain”. I define corruption, in “The Survival Mindset: A Systematic Approach to Combating Corruption in Nigeria", as "the perversion of official activities for inappropriate private gain", in order to include both the instigator and collaborator. With both definitions, it becomes obvious that, it is the abuse or perversion of an office or standard that makes crimes like embezzlement and fraud possible. Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult to prove abuse in a nation with weak institutions. To circumvent that difficulty, some prosecutors have required the accused to either prove the legitimacy of their income or arraigned them for simpler crimes like tax evasion. So, there are ways a determined government can fight corruption while working to prevent it.
3. Corruption can only be fought through strong political will.
Most commentators on corruption often interpret it as a behavioral problem and believe that if people just behave better, corruption will be a thing of the past. They believe that once you get someone with the will to punish people, everyone will behave better. This is only true, however, when the bad behavior is not caused by strong underlying needs. Let me illustrate it this way. If you are in a crowd fighting to get something you dearly need before the shop closes and a guard threatens punishment if you do not queue up… you are likely to ignore him if you are not convinced you will be served when it gets to your turn. If the enforcer’s focus is on orderliness and not on fulfilling customer’s needs, he will not get the needed cooperation. The point I am making here is that it is necessary to first identify and satisfy basic underlying needs before resorting to force.
4. Corruption is evil.
Corruption has strong devastating impact on our lives and that cannot be trivialized or ignored. But if it is so bad and damaging, why then do we tolerate it? Maybe because corruption also provides significant benefits. Corruption allows people obtain their driver’s license without a test, obtain international passports faster, pay far less to government than their official tax rate, obtain unmerited job appointments and provides supplementary income for many hard-pressed government employees. It provides faster services, smoothens out complex official processes (never mind that some of those processes are complicated deliberately in the first instance) and facilitates better relationships. We must understand this side of the coin, the reason why it exists and institute fair, acceptable and effective options for people to meet their needs and then corruption will lose a lot of its current attraction.
5. Corruption is complex and hydra-headed.
It can be really overwhelming to go beyond the usual cases of corruption in government and see the filling station attendant inflate the pump price of fuel or the trader attempt to sell an inferior quality product. The spread and depth of brazen illegitimate acts in our society can often bring a sense of despair and apparent helplessness at what will be required to fix this monster that has taken over our society. But the way to make sense of it is to realize that Nigerians are simply displaying “the survival mindset”. Most Nigerians have learnt over time that no one will look out for them, that they are on their own and must do whatever they can to get whatever they need for themselves. But as they act to help themselves, they hurt others who in turn, imbibe the mindset and act on others, thereby setting up a vicious parasitic cycle. The policeman, who procures his official uniform for himself, feels he has been cheated and feels no qualms extorting from the trader who sees his customer, in turn as his opportunity, and so on and so forth. But there is a way out and that is to address it at the source. If you meet an overflowing tub, there is no point mopping the floor until you have turned off the tap. But we must approach reforms strategically and systematically in order not to alienate the people whose help we dearly need in order to do it successfully. That is both the beauty and the challenge of democracy.
Arnold Obomanu is a business analyst and the author of “The Survival Mindset: A Systematic Approach to Combating Corruption in Nigeria.” He can be reached on www.arnoldobomanu.com